Hola!

Boy oh boy.  The week has been a crazy week.  I just can't believe it flew by so quickly.  I want it to slow down!  This week we had a Bridal Shower for our investigator Kourtney.  She is so sweet.  She has such a light about her and has been so fun to teach as she is so excited to be baptized.  The Bridal Shower went great.  All of her family and friends came and they had a fun time.  We were hoping lots of ward members would be able to attend, and we even hand delivered 20+ invitations to all the women in the ward.  Unfortunately, only 2 were able to come.  But that still made a difference because it showed Kourtney that there were people ready to welcome her into the ward and those 2 wonderful people made a huge difference.  During the Bridal Shower we got to play fun games and Sister Rugg got to share a wonderful message.  The Best Part was that all of Kourtney's family was there and hopefully we will get to see them soon at church.  I am so grateful for God's timing.  Because this past week, Kourtney and her fiance wanted to get married sooner, so this past Saturday, THEY GOT MARRIED!!!  It was great!  We were invited and they were so happy.  This means we get to push up her baptism.  I know that through this experience, when you want something that God wants you to have, He will do everything in His power to give it to you!  I know that God wanted Kourtney to be baptized sooner, so He made it possible for her to be married this past Saturday.  I am so grateful.

I got to give my first talk in Church this past Sunday and boy...I WAS NERVOUS!  I really struggled this week to find what I wanted to say.  Thanks to my wonderful companion, she showed me a WONDERFUL talk and I shared my thoughts about it.  It is a talk by Elder Brent Nielson, "Waiting For The Prodigal."  So for your homework this week, read this talk.  IT IS AMAZING!  When I was studying it, I realized something: We usually compare ourselves to the brother of the prodigal son.  But ... Have you even thought yourself as the prodigal son?  We are all on the same path home and we need to find our Savior and His Atonement in our lives.  He lives and loves us.  He wants us to come home.  So think of somebody you know whether it be a neighbor, family member or EVEN YOURSELF. And help them find their way home.  Come back home to the fold of God.  I loved this talk and the parable of the prodigal son.

Well, I hope you all had a great week.  I am so grateful for all of you and your example you have been to me in my life.  If you have questions about anything, you can read the Book of Mormon, call the missionaries

or pray.  Do those things and I promise you will get answers.

I love you!

Sister Guilott

tan lines!

Spiders are everywhere . . . . 

Blueberries, Miracles and Missionary Life

Pumpkin Carriage Play Ground: WE ARE PRINCESSES!! DAUGHTERS OF A KING!!  

Wow!  In two days, I will have been here in Modesto FOR A WHOLE MONTH!!  1 down, 17 to go! I was looking up at the sky the other day and my companion saw an airplane and she asked, "Sister Guilott, do you know how far away that plan is?  I said I didn't know and asked how far.  She answered, "17 months AWAY!"  HA. HA.  Good one, Sister Rugg. ;) She is awesome! I just have to say HOW MUCH I LOVE MY COMPANION.  She is truly amazing and she has gone through so many experiences that help me so much.  I hope we get to stay with each other this next transfer as well, because I wouldn't want anyone else to train me.  She is a great friend!

This week as been full of Up's and Down's.  To be honest, it is sometimes hard to be a missionary.  We get up early every day, try to talk to people who don't want to talk ot you, and things can be tough as you try to share the message of the gospel with people you know would benefit so much from it but they turn you down.  BUT....I am so grateful for ward members.  They seriously brighten your day.  For example, we have a couple of people in our apartment complex that are in our ward.  And at the end of the day, we go visit them for 10 minutes and that is all you need.  They are a ray of sunshine after a long hard day.

This week we have been planning a Bridal Shower for our investigator.  She is such an amazing person! Kourtney is the best.  She is getting married so she can be baptized.  WHAT FAITH!!  She has been investigating the church for a long time, and has finally wanted to be baptized.  Her fiance was a less active member and is now coming back to church for Kourntey.  And I believe he will be performing the baptism.  That will be such an amazing experience for both of them, and I think it will bond their lives together when they are married.  

We also got to go blueberry picking this week with our Stake President.  President White and his wife, Sister White, are AMAZING!!  They are really into "rescuing the people" in their area.  So they brought along a great non-member family with them! We got to know them that day and we will be meeting with them soon!  The, we will hopefully be able to have them take the lessons.  They are such an incredible family who are ready for the gospel in their lives.

Random street signs everywhere! I love this one! It reminds me of Disney's "Robin Hood" :)

Well, even though everyday life gets crazy, you can just look at the day and see all the miracles around you.  I know that God loves all His children.  I know that He loves you.  I have seen it while I have been here in Modesto.  Seeing all the people who join the church with all their crazy backgrounds and experiences, and you can see how God has helped them be saved.  I hope you all have a wonderful week.  Praying for all of you and LOVE YOU ALL!!! Go out and SERVE!!!

Love,

Sister Guilott

We got a package and the cookies melted!  haha!

Reading scriptures with Victoria's cat

Caroline and Nicole!!!  

Miracles in Modesto

Hello World!! 

 

BOY. This week has felt like the longest week of my life. Because it just had miracle after miracle after miracle. I am so grateful to be able to witness all the blessings and things God has in store for all of His children. This week, we have been teaching Alyssa. She is just getting closer and closer to baptism! She wants it so bad and we know by the Spirit she needs it! She is so full of the light of Christ and seems to be glowing brighter every time we see her. This week we got to teach her about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We were teaching her and when it got to baptism, we had a wonderful discussion. We know that her mom is Christian but isn't sure if this is the right thing for her daughter. So two weeks ago we asked Alyssa if she would ask her mom for her permission, we promised her that God would help her and help humble her mother's heart. Alyssa has been afraid. We had the Spirit prompt us to do role plays with her! We were her mom and that really helped her.  So... Last night we got a text from Alyssa, saying that she was asking her mom that very minute and asked us to pray. Me and Sister Rugg PRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYED. I know I had never EVER prayed like this before. This prayer was specific and it felt like I was talking to God face to face, instead of a telephone call. I and Sister Rugg prayed separately, then together. Then we waited. We waited an hour. Both of us were dying inside. But I know that it was all in God's timing. God has a plan for all of His children and we must be patient with this plan. So... finally we got a text back. And we are happy to say that Alyssa will be baptized June 4th :) It makes me sooooooo happy and makes me cry every time I say this!!!! Alyssa is so excited, along with us, her friends who helped fellowship her, her father and mother, and especially her Heavenly Father and Our Savior Jesus Christ. I am so excited!! So we are helping plan her baptism, and I will be sending pictures soon! This will be the first baptism I get to experience on my mission! I know that it was the Spirit that helped her know this was the right thing! I am so excited for her. 

Janie is the older lady we are teaching. We were about to drop her last week. Until we showed her the new pamphlets for the missionaries and for everyone in the church! They are all about Temples and Families. We were showing her the temple pictures in the pamphlet, when all of the sudden she stopped at a picture of a baptismal font. She was struck with the Spirit. We told her after she was baptized, she can do baptisms for her family who have died. She started to cry and say that she was feeling warm inside. WE WERE SO EXCITED. We told her, that is the Spirit! He is a comforter, a friend, and a proclaimer of truth. She wants to be baptized, she knows it's the right thing. So we told her to pray, and we also put her on a baptismal date so she can prepare for that. 

This week has been full of miracles. But you can all have the same experiences the missionaries are having. Read Luke 15:4-7. It is the parable of the Lost Sheep. I would like to invite you all to read it! While you read, just think of your Savior Jesus Christ as the Shepard. He wants us all to come unto his fold! He will put you on His shoulders and carry you home. Like the Savior, we can be under-shepherds. We can help Our Savior by being examples of Him and by inviting others to come unto Christ. I know it can be scary to do this, but we are promised that "if you sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward," D&C 6:33. 

I love you all and hope you can be examples of Christ! I pray and think of you always!! I know that this is the true church and that we have the truth. 

Love,

Sister Guilott :)

 

We got to teach this Jamaican man the gospel!

We got free succulents--we named them Moses and Aaron.

There was a bug . . . 

There are so many cats here!  I am in heaven!  Mardi, don't get jealous--you are still my #1!

Hello!

Happy Mother’s Day to all!! I have had a great Mother’s Day, and getting to skype with my family was a like taking a big breath of FRESH UTAH AIR. J

I am so grateful for my mother.  I was thinking about my mom this past week.  And I was just admiring how much she has done for my family.  And how she was also a missionary, and that just makes me see how much of an example she is to me.  I think of Christ’s life, and how one of the only people there by His side was Mary, His mother.  When He was on the cross, at His feet was His mother.  To have her son sacrificed must have been the hardest thing she had ever done. 

Moms’ make sacrifices, like my Grandma Catherine who sacrificed when she sent her oldest daughter, my mom, to serve a mission many years ago in Portugal where she had so much success and that helped my mom to turn into the most amazing woman I know today.  My mom is my hero.  She has such Christ-like love.  I cannot even comprehend it.  I hope to be like her someday.  Now, she is willing to support me and give me up to the Lord for 18 months to serve and help build His kingdom.  I am so grateful to be here serving in Modesto.  I am grateful for my family.  I love my family.  And mom, I love you so much and am willing to do anything for you.

This week has been great.  I am now out of the “Oh, I am a missionary . . .  HOORAY!” phase and I have entered the “Oh, I am a missionary . . . This is kind of tough” phase.  But, I love it and would not have it any other way.  We have been teaching many people.  We also have a wonderful lady named Sister Hoff who is basically my mission mom right now.  I am so grateful to her.  We see her often and share messages with her.  The picture here is of this wonderful lady:

We are helping our investigators day-by-day.  Courtney is getting ready for her wedding! She is so cute! But, her soon-to-be mother-in-law wants us to help her by getting a bridal shower together. OH YEAH!!!!!! I LOVE THIS KIND OF STUFF!!! We are also helping with her wedding: I think I get to do her hair.... I LOVE MY MISSION. :)

Alyssa is doing great! She wants to be baptized, but needs her mother’s permission. So prayers have been said for her, she is sooooo cute and is soooo ready for baptism. 

I got to bike in the rain... The picture is me... Trying to be positive while biking in the rain in a skirt. Haha.

Soaking wet from the rain!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!! Keep up the great work! Know that I pray for you all! I love this gospel and know it is true ;)

Love, 

Sister Guilott

Adorable little library: We added a Book of Mormon!

Outside our apartment is so beautiful!

Hello Modesto!

Hello Family and Friends,

I want to let you know that I am safe and well in Modesto! And oh boy... It's been quite a week here already! I got here and got my trainer, Sister Rugg! She is from Colorado and she has been out 5 months TODAY!! Hooray! I adore her! She is the best trainer ever! She just just barely got done being trained herself, and now is training me. So she is pretty awesome! 

We are in a full biking area. We do not have a car, so we bike everywhere and I love it! Biking is the best way to get around from place to place, and it is great for proselyting. My first day we were knocking on doors after a member cancelled on us. And we found a couple, and they said they would love to know more about the church... COOL HUH?!?! So we will meeting with them this upcoming Saturday! We have two investigators right now on track for baptism. Courtney, she is such a cute girl. She is engaged to a member and she wants to be baptized so bad! So she is going to get married like on a Saturday, then get baptized the next day! HOW AMAZING IS THAT?!?! Alyssa, she is a cute teenage girl. We started giving her the lessons yesterday, we asked her if she would "follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized...?" and... SHE SAID YES!!!! But her mom isn't a member, so she is waiting for her mom's blessing. We are praying and fasting for her and her mom to let her be baptized. She just has such a light of Christ and she is so ready to be baptized. 

I can't believe how much the Spirit teaches. I am seriously not the teacher at all. The work is hastening here, so we are given TWO wards! I love them so much.  We were asked to not share where we are by our President.  But know I am in a wonderful area, and it is not like Utah at all. So a cool experience: Sister Rugg was naming off people to visit. She named off a lady last, and her name is Susie. Sister Rugg told me that she is a harsher lady to missionaries so we wouldn't be visiting her for a while... But I felt prompted by the Spirit to visit her. I told my companion, and she had the same prompting. we went to visit her. Come to find out, her husband had died just the day before and was in a terrible state. We came over and she was so sad and crying. We cleaned her apartment and sang to her. She was comforted and was much better. SO THE CHURCH IS TRUE AND NEVER DENY A SPIRITUAL PROMPTING. Amen. I love being a missionary, even though it is the hardest thing of my life. I love it. I love the wards and the members that are in it. I love the area and the crazy/fun people I am meeting every day! I am so grateful for the opportunity I get to serve the Lord. I know that this place was for me to help serve and help others to come unto Christ.  I love it!

LOVE YOU ALL!! 
Have a great week! 
Sister Guilott